Viennese violinist Benjamin Schmid made his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 1986 as the solo partner of Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Schmid’s breakthrough came when he won the Carl Flesch Competition in London in 1992 where he was also awarded the Mozart, the Beethoven and the Audience Prize. Since then he has appeared as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich.

Schmid’s discography includes more than 60 releases, several of which have received accolades such as the German Record Prize, the Echo Classic Prize, Gramophone Editor’s Choice and The Strad Selection.

Benjamin Schmid gives masterclasses worldwide and is a professor and mentor to his students at the Mozarteum University where he was awarded, among other prizes, the International Prize for Art and Culture. He was also a professor and guest professor at the Hochschule der Künste Bern/CH and serves as jury chairman of the International Mozart Competition Salzburg. As someone for whom music education for all age groups is becoming increasingly important, Benjamin Schmid has been intensively involved in the artistic design of various institutions for many years: he has led the Classix Kempten festival and the Mattseer Diabelli Sommer, as well as the high-profile Swedish chamber orchestra Musica Vitae. In 2024, Schmid was entrusted with the artistic direction of the Salzburg Cultural Association, which plays around 50 mostly symphonic concerts in his hometown’s festival halls throughout the year.

He performs on the 1718 ‘ex Viotti’ Stradivarius violin made available to him by the Austrian National Bank, as well as on a modern violin made in 2015 by Wiltrud Fauler.

www.benjaminschmid.com